Improved Marc Savard skates with team

Stephen HarrisSunday, November 21, 2010

Center Marc Savard took a major step in his recovery from post-concussion syndrome yesterday, joining the Bruins for their morning skate in advance of last night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings at the Garden.

Savard, 33, still hasn’t been cleared for contact, has quite a bit of conditioning work to do and isn’t likely to play for at least a couple of weeks. But he was happy finally to be back skating with the team.

“It felt unbelievable,” Savard said. “It’s been a long time. It’s pretty special to make it to this step. I would say for about two or three weeks now that I really haven’t felt any ill-effects. Things are heading in the right direction, that’s for sure.”

Savard spoke at length about his recovery from a blindside hit by the Penguins’ Matt Cooke in March, admitting it was unwise to come back and play in the playoffs and that there were times he wasn’t sure if he would, or wanted to, play again.

“It was really tough,” Savard said. “I had my days obviously that were really tough, where I was unsure about my future in the game. I think that love (of playing) went away for a bit because I wasn’t sure about anything. And obviously now, I’ve had time to heal, and I can’t wait to get back out there with the guys and play some games.”

Savard said he learned a valuable lesson when he mistakenly talked his way back into the lineup for the playoffs matchup with the Flyers. That premature return might have led to the recurrence of concussion symptoms this summer.

“You can’t let the hockey player get ahead of the person in you,” Savard said. “That’s what I did. I just wanted to play. Obviously your brain is not something you should be battling through, and I learned that the hard way. And hopefully other guys are learning from it.”

Savard also addressed the controversy about NHL vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell, who called the player “a little fake artist” in a 2007 e-mail released last week. Campbell didn’t suspend Cooke for the hit on Savard.

“I have nothing against (Campbell). I think that stuff was private stuff and I think that stuff that he was saying (in the e-mails) got interpreted in a bad way,” Savard said. “It had nothing to do with the (Matt) Cooke incident. I played for (Campbell with the Rangers), and I think that was one of the ways when I first came in the league to stay in the lineup was to draw penalties. I think he encouraged it at the time, if you asked him. So I think that’s what he was referring to, but it had nothing to do with the Cooke situation.”

Coach Claude Julien was delighted to have Savard back at practice.

“That was reinforced this morning by hearing him chirp in the dressing room - something we hadn’t heard in a few months,” Julien said. “So, obviously he’s back to normal. He’s happy to be back, and we’re happy to have him back. A happy Savvy is usually a good Savvy. Hopefully he keeps going in the right direction, and we get him back in a game capacity sooner rather than later.”